India's GAIL starts enquiry on fire that left 1 killed, 3 hurt

13 September 2010 08:41[Source: ICIS news]

MUMBAI (ICIS)--Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) has begun an enquiry into a fire which occurred on September 11 at its petrochemical plant in Pata, Uttar Pradesh state, killing one person and injuring three others, a source said on Monday.

The fire broke out during a routine maintenance at a crude hexane reboiler in its 100,000 tonne/year No 1 high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit at around 15:20 hours local time (09:50 GMT), Gail said on its website.

While the exact cause of the fire remains unknown, it could have been due to gas leakage, the source added.

The fire was brought under control within an hour though deputy manager Prashant Kumar Sharma died while three other workers were hospitalised after sustaining serious burns, the source said.

“The fire occurred when the crude hexane reboiler unit was being readied for a shut down so as to carry out routine maintenance of the unit,” the company said.

As Saturday was a holiday, attendance at the plant was low and only officers and personnel in charge of essential services were present, the source added.

The company had to shut the No 1 HDPE line after the accident, while the other lines at the facility were running normally, the source said.

GAIL runs two HDPE units with 100,000 tonnes/year capacity each and a 210,000 tonne/year HDPE/linear low density PE (LLDPE) swing plant at the same location.